Here, we’ve gathered together 20 of the best sales quotes and how they could inspire your sales team:

This quote sums up the attitude that you need in order to succeed in sales – you need to start seeing negatives as opportunities. If a prospect isn’t sure, it’s an opportunity for you to explain it better or to find another way of engaging them with your product or service.

To sell effectively you need to believe in what you’re selling – you need to be confident and already sold on the product or service yourself. This accounts for much more than simple persuasion skills.

"One of the best predictors of ultimate success … isn't natural talent or even industry expertise, but how you explain your failures and rejections."

Daniel H. Pink, author of five books about business, work and management - click to tweet

These words of wisdom explain the kind of mental strength you need to be a good salesperson. Everyone will experience failure and rejection, but it’s how you deal with that which determines how you succeed.

"To build a long-term, successful enterprise, when you don't close a sale, open a relationship."

Everyone experiences setbacks – at work and in their personal lives – but it’s how you deal with it and move on that determines how long it will be until you succeed. In sales, you need to have the right attitude to keep pushing on – even when your emails are ignored and you get objection after objection from a prospect.

“Don’t sell life insurance. Sell what life insurance can do.”

Ben Feldman, American businessman and one of the most prolific salespeople in world history - click to tweet

It can be easy to fall into the habit of selling the features of your product or service, but it’s the benefits that make a sale. It’s the difference between simply describing a product or service and explaining how that could enhance a prospect’s life or business.

“It’s not your customer’s job to remember you. It is your obligation and responsibility to make sure they don’t have the chance to forget you.”

We’re all consumers and we all like to buy, but everyone likes to feel that they’re in control – like it was their choice to buy something. The problem with some pushy sales tactics is that the buyer no longer feels in control and they feel like they’re being sold to.

“Most people think ‘selling’ is the same as ‘talking’. But the most effective salespeople know that listening is the most important part of their job.”

It’s easy to misinterpret the role of a sales person – and to think selling is the result of one amazing pitch, where you wow a prospect with your words. In reality, selling is much more about listening to a prospect and working out what they need and how you could help them.

“Sales are contingent on the attitude of the salesman, not the attitude of the prospect”.

There’s no point contacting hundreds of poor quality leads, just because it’s easy, when you could spend a little longer nurturing several good quality leads. As a sales manager, ensure the metrics you use to measure your team don’t encourage this kind of behavior.

“B2B customers want to see a lot of value before buying more. That requires a company-wide effort.”

A good salesperson puts the customer first and uses their interests or pain points as the place where they start the conversation, as opposed to just focusing on what they want to say.

“The best salespeople know that their expertise can become their enemy in selling. At the moment they are tempted to tell the buyer what "he needs to do," they instead offer a story about a peer of the buyer.”

The art of selling is to make your product or service relevant to the customer, and the only way you do that is through proper research. Encourage a culture of research to make sure every prospect gets a personalized and relevant approach.

Encourage your team to listen more and talk less. Not only will this lead to them better understanding the marketplace and industry pain points, but they’ll be liked and trusted more by prospects and customers.

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Olivier Gachot is EVP of North America Sales at NewVoiceMedia, responsible for accelerating growth through new customer acquisition and maintaining successful and trusted partnerships with existing customers. He is a proven leader in building and transforming SaaS companies at scale on a global basis. His 20+ years of experience include leading several companies from early years to successful IPO and acquisitions.